While home over spring break, I took Dad and Emily backpacking in Grand Gulch, an archaeologically notable tributary of the San Juan in southwestern Utah. This was Emily's first backpacking trip, and Dad's first in five years.

We started at the Collins trailhead and followed an old cowboy trail into the gulch, where we stayed for two nights. We set up camp near a small pool of water and day-hiked upcanyon to see Bannister ruin and some other sites. After our hike, we discovered a large wall of petroglyphs 100 yards downcanyon from our campsite.

This was my first canyon trip outside the Escalante. I never used my wading shoes, had some trouble finding water, and was surprised to find established trails going everywhere. I had expected it to be colder at the higher elevation, but we had a patch of sunny weather and I found that I'd overpacked (again!). On the second and third days my allergies raged out of control, which made things pretty unpleasant for me. Fortunately, though, everything else went fine, and it was nice to get out of town for a few days.